This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Procedures can be performed on various structures, such as a human anatomy or other animal anatomies. The procedures, however, may generally be either open procedures or closed or less invasive procedures. In an open procedure, the anatomy of the patient or subject is open for viewing by a surgeon. In a less invasive procedure, however, it can be selected to minimize the access or viewing of the internal portions of the subject. It may be selected, therefore, to use imaging to assist in performing a less invasive procedure.
Images of the subject can be used to assist in performing a procedure by illustrating the internal structure of the subject. Various tracking and navigation systems can be used to assist in locating and illustrating the location of the instrument relative to the structure by displaying an icon relative to the image. For example, an icon representing an instrument can be super-imposed on the image of the structure of the subject to illustrate the location of the instrument relative to the subject.
The instrument can be passed through the subject at various entry locations, angles, and depths relative to the subject. These various features can be defined as a trajectory which includes an entry point and a path of the instrument from the entry point to a selected target. The trajectory may also be defined by any appropriate geometric shape, such as cones, regular or irregular volume shapes, cylinders, etc. A surgeon or other appropriate user can identify a trajectory to reach a target that is to be followed during an actual procedure. Accordingly, image data of the subject can be acquired prior to performing a procedure and the procedure can be planned with the image data to assist in defining an appropriate trajectory to the target.